Woodstock Retirement Home Evacuated Due to Smoke

More than 60 people were evacuated from the Riverside Court retirement home in Upper Woodstock Friday morning after a small fire triggered a smoke alarm.

Woodstock Fire Department, Woodstock Police and Ambulance NB responded to the alarm at the 79-unit senior’s residential facility at 870 Main Street shortly before 10 a.m.

Residents were moved to the nearby Salvation Army church hall at 110 Eastwood Drive. Woodstock Police were asking family members to avoid the Riverside Court parking lot and go directly to the church until the smoke is cleared from the building.

The blaze affected the building's electrical system and prompted the precautionary evacuation. Woodstock Fire Chief Rick Nicholson tells us the minor, isolated fire was quickly contained.

Crews have been expelling smoke from the 4-story building and will be conducting air quality tests to determine when it’s safe for residents to return. There were no injuries, Nicholson said.

As of 1 p.m., twenty-one residents from the 3rd and 4th floors were still being cared for at the church. Chief Nicholson said he hoped they could all return to their homes by suppertime.

Canadian Red Cross volunteers have been mobilized to assist the facility's staff.